USER GUIDE FOR TheNet X-1J
This brief note is intended for users of TheNet X-1J, and explains the basic
commands. Configuration and sysop features are not covered fully.
TheNet X-1J is an extension of TheNet 1, and provides a number of new
features.
The switch provides the following user commands :
Connect
Info
Nodes
Routes
Users
Talk
CQ
BBS
Host
MHeard
Bye
DXcluster
IProute
ARP
QUIT
Not all commands may be available on every node as certain commands might
have been disabled. If a command has been enabled, it will be displayed when
you type an invalid command such as '?'. In addition, there are some
commands that are available but are not displayed. The main ones of interest
are :
Links
Mode
Parms
Stats
IPAddress
DXCAlias
BBSAlias
HostAlias
MTU
Connect
If the connect command is given on its own, then assuming that the
sysop has set it up correctly, you will get connected to the local BBS.
If you give another callsign, either of a local station or a node, the
node will attempt to connect you to that station either by a level 4
connection or by downlinking. If you are downlinking, you may also
specify digipeaters.
In either case, you get either a connected message or a message telling
you of the failure to connect. If you enter any other command at this
stage, the connection attempt will be aborted.
If you attempt to downlink with digipeating, or attempt to downlink to
an invalid callsign such as a node alias with an SSID, you may get an
error message depending on how the Sysop has configured the node.
Finally, if you connect to the node, then connect to another station,
and that station disconnects you ( e.g. connect to a BBS and use the
'Bye' command of the BBS, you will either get reconnected to the node
or disconnected completely depending on the configuration of the node.
If you enter a node alias and get an 'invalid call' message, it can
either be because the node is not recognised or it can be because the
Sysop has made node aliases case sensitive.
Info
This command gives information about the node as a combination of a
message stored in the EPROM and a message entered by the Sysop.
Nodes
This command gives information about the distant nodes that this node
thinks it can get to. With no parameter, it shows the alias and
callsign of all the nodes except those staring with a '#' character. If
a parameter of '*' is given, those 'hidden' nodes will also be shown.
If a callsign or alias is given that the node does not know, it gives
an error message. If the callsign or alias of a known node is given,
the node gives details of the routes it knows about that lead to that
destination. The display shows one option per line, each of which
consists of the path quality, obsolescence count and port followed by
the callsign of the neighbour. If any route is in use, a chevron is
shown against the appropriate entry.
If so configured by the Sysop, 'Slime trails' i.e. nodes without
aliases that have not been the subject of a valid node broadcast, may
be omitted from the nodes list.
Routes
This command gives information about the neighbouring nodes that can be
heard. For each neighbour, the display shows the port number, the
callsign, the path quality and the number of nodes accessible through
this neighbour. If a route has been 'locked' by the sysop, then a '!'
character is shown after an entry. The sysop may have configured the
node to display nodes as callsign or as alias:callsign. If so
configured, then if a node is shown as a callsign alone it means that
is it not currently reachable as its node broadcasts are not being
received.
Users
This shows who is using the node. It does not show other nodes that are
using the node as a level 3 relay, nor does it show those users who
have connected to the node but otherwise have done nothing.
The display shows the through connections, followed by those users who
are connected to the switch and 'idle'. It also shows those users who
are connected to the conferencing facility. The latter stations are
shown connected to a destination called 'Talk', whilst in the case of
connections, the two endpoints are shown. For connections, two symbols
are used, '' and ''. The former is used for established
connections whilst the latter is used for connections being
established.
Talk
The Talk command allows a group of users to hold a conference call. It
also allows a user to send a message to another user of the node
provided that user is connected to the switch but is not patched
through to another station and is not currently trying to connect to
another station.
A user enters the conference by giving the command 'talk'. He/she gets
a message informing them of this and reminding them that the command to
escape from the talk command is '/exit'. Any other users currently in
the conference get a message from the node telling them of the callsign
of the user who has joined them. At this point, every line sent by a
user in the conference is copied to all other users in the conference,
preceded by their callsign.
To exit from the conference, the command '/exit' is used. This causes a
response message to be sent to the user, and at the same time all of
those left in the conference get a message from the node telling them
of the station who has left the conference. If you force a disconnect,
the other stations are not told of your departure.
A string of text may be entered on the same line as the talk command
when the command is given. If this is done, before the user is
connected to the conference, that string of text is sent to all the
other users of the node who appear in the 'user' list but are not
connected to anything else. For example if GxABC were to type :
TALK GyXYZ, Hello fred can I have a chat - type TALK
then other users of the node ( including presumably Fred, would get the
message :
GxABC>> GyXYZ. Hello fred can I have a chat - type TALK
on their screens. The only exception to this is that sysops are not
sent the message.
Note that the TALK command will pass 8 bit data if set to by the Sysop.
CQ
This command is used to broadcast a CQ message. In addition, the fact
that you are calling CQ is indicated in the USER list. The callsign
will be your own with a different SSID, and anyone else can connect to
you by connecting to the callsign with the appropriate SSID.
The CQ remains 'primed' for a while, and if any other command is given
to the node the CQ will be cancelled.
BBS
When you issue the BBS command, assuming that the sysop has configured
it, you will be connected to the local BBS.
If you enter the command 'BBS ?', then the current setting of the BBS
will be displayed.
Host
The HOST command operates just like the BBS command. It may have been
disabled by the sysop, it may have been set to connect to the same
station as the BBS, or it may have been set to connect to another host
system.
If you enter the command 'HOST ?', then the current setting of the HOST
will be displayed.
MHeard
If enabled, the heard list shows the last few stations heard. The
number of entries is limited and set by the sysop so any stations not
heard for a while may get pushed out of the list by others heard.
Assuming that a station is not pushed out in this manner, the display
shows the number of packets heard from that station since it appeared
in the list and the time since it was last heard. The time is hours,
minutes and seconds. The list also shows the port on which the station
was heard ( port 0 is the radio port ), and if it hears IP frames or
Net/Rom frames, it adds a note to show that the station is a node
and/or a TCP/IP station.
If the list is long enough so that a station is not heard for 12 hours,
it will get deleted anyway.
The list may also show a column headed 'Dev.'. This will only be
present where the sysop has added to the node a small hardware add-on
that measures the received signal audio level. Specifically, it gives
an indication of the peak audio level. By means of a software
configuration control and prior calibration, this gets converted into
an indication of the transmitting station's signal deviation. It does
this by sampling the audio level after every valid packet.
Care must be taken over its interpretation. It does not measure
independently the two tone levels - it is assumed that whatever local
standards that relate to pre-emphasis ( i.e. use it or not ) have been
implemented.
Often, packet stations are set up, and the audio level tweaked until it
appears to work reasonably error free. The idea of this add-on is that,
having done that, you then connect to the node and display the heard
list to see an indication of your actual deviation. It may then be fine
tuned to set it correctly. Local advice must be taken over the correct
setting as it depends on the channel spacing being used ( e.g. 12.5, 25
or other KHz ).
The meter will give the wrong answer on the following conditions :
A badly distorted audio signal
Badly off frequency
Incorrect adherence to local pre-emphasis standards
A very noisy signal
If you connect, then correct your deviation to the correct display then
find performance has deteriorated, it indicates one of the above
problems. It is not that the meter doesn't work, it is an indication of
a fault elsewhere.
It is in your own interest for those around you to use the correct
deviation. The list also allows you to see the deviation of others - so
apply peer pressure if someone over or under deviates. Remember it is
NOT a case of the higher or the lower the better - it is having the
setting RIGHT.
The system may also be used to migrate users towards a lower deviation
in advance of moving to narrower channel spacing.
Links
The LINKS command shows the level 2 connections to the node. This is
usually of academic interest, but I use it in testing. The display
shows the links, one per line, with the two callsigns, the link state,
the port number and the current number of retries.
Mode
The MODE command is a bit like the PARMS command. It shows a number of
additional parameters. These are as follows as shown by example :
MODE
THENET:G8KBB-5> 0 1800 6 3 2 20 0 600 2 900 1 31 0 1 1 0 0
with the following meanings :
0 Host mode protocol ( 0 = standard, 1 = DCD mode )
1800 CWID period. Delay in seconds between CWID
6 CWID speed 10's of msec per dot. 6 equals 20 wpm
3 Enable / disable nodes broadcasts mask.
2 RS232 protocol, 0 = crosslink, 1,2 or 3 are KISS
20 TxDelay in 10's of milliseconds ( Centiseconds ?? )
0 Full duplex control. 0 equals simplex
600 RS232 port nodes broadcast interval in seconds
2 Nodes broadcast algorithm port mask
900 Beacon period in seconds
1 'connect' redirector. 0 is to HOST, 1 is to BBS
31 Each bit controls one of the 'user' help messages, 8 bit TALK &
case sensitivity
0 This byte controls the broadcasting of 'hash' nodes
1 This byte enables / disables the extra alias operation
1 If set to '1', a remote disconnect on a circuit will cause a node
reconnection
0 The bits of this controls the operation of the node with regard
to 'slime trails'
0 The bits of this control whether digi uplinks and downlinks are
permitted
If you want additional details, ask the sysop for a copy of the
overview guide.
Parms
This shows the node parameters as per TheNet 1.01 ( I am not going to
list them again here. Sorry ).
Bye and Quit
These commands disconnects you from the node, closing the link. It says
goodbye before disconnecting you if it has been so configured by the
sysop. Quit does just the same as Bye does.
DXcluster
If there is a local DXcluster, this command may have been configured by
the sysop to connect you to it. It therefore operates in a manner very
similar to the BBS command.
Stats
The stats command gives lots of data about the node operation. A full
description of the information is contained in the overview document.
IProute
This command is used by the sysop to configure the IP route table. It
may also be used to display the router table.
Arp
This command is similar to the IProute command, but shows the Arp
table. The Arp table provides a translation from Ip address to
callsign.
IPaddress
This command is used to set or display the current node IP address.
BBSAlias
HostAlias
DXCAlias
These commands are used to set additional aliases for the node. It can
be configured by the sysop to accept connect requests ( uplinks ) to
the node callsign, the node alias, or the 3 aliases shown by these
commands. When the node accepts a connection to one of these aliases,
it will immediately invoke the BBS, DXC or HOST commands for you. The
way this would normally be used is as follows. Suppose your local ( for
example ) BBS was not accessible on the frequency that the node
operates on. The BBS alias can be configured to provide easy access
across other nodes to the BBS. Hence in the case of the Ipswich nodes,
GB7MXM does not have a port on 144.650, but the node IPS2 on 144.650
can get to it by means of another node and a 9600 baud link. If IPS2 is
set to accept the extra aliases, and if BBSAlias is set to MXMBBS, then
anyone who tries to uplink to MXMBBS in the Ipswich area would be
automatically connected to GB7MXM. It goes without saying that if
GB7MXM had a port on 144.650 itself, then chaos would ensue.
MTU
This command allows configuration of the MTUs for IP users. The
parameters have the following meanings :
Parameter Default Controls
=============================================================
1 256 The MTU for the radio port, AX.25 encapsulation
2 256 The MTU for the RS232 port, AX.25 encapsulation
3 236 The MTU for the Net/Rom encapsulation
4 257 The max num. of data bytes in a recvd L2 frame
5 328 The max num of bytes in a received L2 frame
For more details on the IP router, consult the 'overview' document.